He touched my skin gently, being careful not to stray away from my arm. The moonlight shone in my room as he sat next to me on my bed. Tim. I looked at him, intoxicated by the thought of his lips touching mine. He moved closer to me, placing his hand on my inner thigh, moving in for a kiss. I couldn't move, I couldn't speak. All I wanted to do at that moment was feel. Feel his body on mine.
I looked in his blue eyes and allowed myself to be hypnotized. Fooled in his trance, he laid me down on my back, opening his mouth to tell me something-- but the only sound that came out was a radar. My eyes shot open and I looked up at my ceiling, sunlight shining through the window. My alarm was all I could hear now.
Joanna burst into my room.
"JADE! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, KEEP IT TO YOURSELF!"
She slammed my door in her dramatic exit to the living room. I didn't think our telepathy could activate unintentionally, but I guess it only happened at the most inconvenient of times.
I sat up and positioned my feet on the floor to keep my balance. I could hear Joanna and Arya cooking breakfast while the news was on as I turned the handle and made my way out.
"Done in there?" Jo laughed.
"I don't want to talk about it..." What? I honestly didn't. Truthfully, I was a bit embarrassed. He's clearly just a friend, and his new girlfriend is proof of that. I'm not quite sure why I was thinking of him, but I knew it was something I didn't want or need to think about at this particular moment.
"What I do want to talk about," I continued, "are those masks and how nothing happened last night."
"I know. I thought we'd at least see some sort of voodoo," Joanna teased.
"It's just strange because they seemed to work on everyone else," Arya pointed out. "Does that make us immune to the mind control?"
I wish I knew the answer. It would have made our jobs a lot simpler if we knew even a little bit more about what was going on; we'd been in the dark for so long, it felt like whenever we finally got close to figuring something-- anything out, the target moved somewhere entirely different. I was exhausted from the games. I couldn't keep trying to figure out an impossible puzzle when our enemy kept changing every other day.
The frustration inside me grew as I continued thinking about all the different scenarios. I poured myself a glass of water, returning to find a text from Scott asking me to come over for dinner later that night. I needed a distraction from all this Mask nonsense-- and Tim.
***
Scott was standing in the kitchen over a pot of what looked like some kind of spaghetti. I shut the door behind me, and he turned around seemingly nervous.
"J!" He set down his ladle and came to hug me at the door. "Take a seat, dinner's almost ready."
I looked at the table that was now in the living room. There were two chairs tucked under the round surface which had a cloth draped over it, and a candle in the center. This was the best way to forget about my shitty day.
I sat down as he walked over with a plate of parmesan-covered spaghetti. Though I wasn't the biggest fan of either parmesan or spaghetti, I ate it anyway because of how long it must have taken him to prepare for such a night.
"Scott, I'm confused... Is it our anniversary?"
"Can't I just do something nice?" He said through a bite.
"Of course, I'm just..." I trailed off, letting the words die. I didn't want an argument to ruin the meal. "It's really good," I finished, smiling.
By the time we both finished our meals, he took our plates to the kitchen before returning and pulling his chair closer to mine.
"Jade, we've been together for a few years now..." He took my hand, though they were growing sweaty with my confusion.
"Scott, where are you going with--"
"And you know I love you... but I'm just not sure if this is something I want to keep doing."
I withdrew my hand.
"Huh?"
"I think we should take a break." He said.
I leaned back in my chair.
"I... I don't understand. You made this dinner, and I thought everything was going well--"
"I get it. You need a minute, I-- I'll leave the room." He stood and went to the restroom.
What the Hell? He made us a romantic dinner and then broke up with me? I didn't know what to do. All I knew was that I did not want to be there when he got back.
I gathered my things and started to get up, when the sound of Scott's phone caught my attention: a text from... Karis?
Is she gone yet? I want to see you...
"Karis... who the--" I wondered aloud. Scott came from the bathroom, and when I looked at him, I crossed my arms before everything went dark.
***
A woman bursted through the door.
"WHAT THE HELL?" She shouted, running to Scott, who was passed out on the floor. I could only assume she was Karis, unless he was expecting some other mystery woman.
I looked around me, finally coming to my senses. The table was crushed, with Scott right in the middle of the debris. I backed up, my eyes widening, realizing what I'd done. There was blood dripping from his forehead, and his eyes were closed... but it looked like he was still breathing.
"You are insane," Karis said, shoving me toward the door in fear before running back to Scott. I couldn't fight back, I couldn't react to her. I was numb from the inside out.
I stepped out the door and into the hallway, trying to put the pieces together, thinking back from a few minutes ago.
He walked toward me, I pushed him away. He came towards me, put his hands on my arms, and-- that's all I could remember before Karis came in.
I sunk down to the wall, finally letting the shock subside and the tears fall.
Weakly, through blurry eyes, I texted Jo and Arya to come pick me up.
